Opposition seems in disarray amid talk of Yongyuth returning as leader
Thaksin Shinawatra remains very healthy, according to a group of MPs who said they met him in Russia over the weekend. He has been playing golf and riding horses, all the while purportedly having only one thing in mind: How to make Thailand peaceful again.
However, undeniably sick is the party he founded. And Thailand's peace may have to be Thaksin's second priority at the moment. Until disunited and rudderless Pheu Thai finds a new leader to replace Yongyuth Wichaidit, who emotionally quit his job last week, national "reconciliation" will have to wait.
The party is scheduled to elect Yongyuth's successor today, and the possibility of Yongyuth succeeding "himself" underlines the messy state the opposition camp is in. Former police chief Kowit Watana, who emerged as a strong candidate last week, failed to show up at party headquarters yesterday for a crucial formality, fuelling gossip about widespread objections to his potential appointment. Is Pheu Thai "in transition" as claimed, or is it simply in renewed turmoil?
Only Yongyuth knows for sure why he resigned in the first place. Certain sources in the divided party claim Thaksin wants him to step down, in order to facilitate a certain agenda. Other party members claim he was simply fed up, having served as a nominal leader without real power and suffering disrespect and unfair criticism for too long. Either way, if he returns to the party's helm today, the development will be anything but a step forward for Pheu Thai.
One lame excuse Pheu Thai can use in the event of Yongyuth's re-instatement is that his resignation was only ceremonial and designed to allow a re-organisation of the party. That, however, will not explain why Yongyuth's press conference last week featured teary eyes and choked voices. He looked more like a man feeling sorry for himself than someone "pretending" to quit so he could come back stronger than ever.
It could still be Kowit who gets elected today, but that would mean he's a very brave man. Opposition to his arrival was no longer limited to media gossip quoting unnamed sources. The MPs who had been to Russia were outspoken in their criticism of his character yesterday. This is definitely not someone, one of them said, whom the party can present as Abhisit Vejjajiva's challenger.
Kowit was supposed to register his membership with Pheu Thai yesterday so he could be nominated for today's election. After his no-show, rumours about Yongyuth's return buzzed. "Don't ask me what-if questions," Yongyuth, in a different mood from last week, said of the possibility of his resurgence. "I'm not commenting on things that have not happened yet."
If it wasn't going to happen for Yongyuth, the credibility of the seven MPs who made the trip to Russia would surely be called into question. Suchart Lai-namngern and Pracha Prasopdee have come back as Yongyuth's cheerleaders, giving the impression that their support for him has been endorsed by the one man who really matters.
"He [Thaksin] insisted he could only advise the party and not make decisions on its behalf," Pracha said. "But when it comes to Yongyuth, he agreed that he [Yongyuth] should continue to serve as party leader at least until the election comes."
Suchart told reporters it would "definitely" be Yongyuth today. He and Pracha suggested that Thaksin had been fed with wrong information about Kowit, who both MPs claimed could not carry the party's banner in the next election.
Yongyuth's possible return, however, would not solve long-standing Pheu Thai problems of badly organised structure, disharmony and intense power plays. The party now has an executive board through which MPs can exert little power, and a "coordinating committee" that brings together banned politicians and key Thaksin relatives and seems to wield more authority than the MPs. That is in addition to having political veterans Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Chalerm Yoobamrung as advisory chairman and MPs' chairman respectively.
"I've taken some aspirin," said Plodprasop Suraswadi, deputy party leader, whose announcement of the party's "reconciliation plan" two weeks ago was criticised by MPs who were in the dark about it, but seemed to set the ball rolling for leadership change.
"As far as I know, Pol Gen Kowit hasn't come to register as a party member today and the reason given was he wasn't a politician and did not know much about the party's affairs."
One little comfort for Kowit, especially if he does become the new party leader, is that most Pheu Thai MPs are not much better off in that respect.